This Man May Soon Be A Heartbeat Away From The Presidency

Share this:

Like this:

Related

4 Responses

Yeah, after we missed having a conservative Catholic as presidential candidate (Deo gratias!), now we have one of the worst (because perhaps more intelligent) as vice-presidential candidate. This will bring out a lot of Catholic enthusiasm that otherwise would have languished over the obvious failings of Romney, even from the conservative standpoint. Now it will be even more difficult to dissociate the Catholic Church in the popular mind from the worst kind of neo-liberal (i.e. conservative) economic and political doctrines.

At first I thought hey, this will stimulate discussion about authentic Catholic social teaching. But then I realized how that will go: the money and the volume coming from the right, the herd of Catholic conservatives eager to believe that their errors have been baptized.
Would that we could hope for bishops to clarify, but I don’t see that happening. Sigh.

I don’t see that happening either which is why we the laity have to continue to work towards getting the message out there. I am personally seeing a hopeful number of “conservative” Catholics sincerely seeking truth in regards to authentic Catholic social teaching (mind you we’re being called socialists by other conservatives because of it . . .). It has been said that authentic Catholic social teaching is the best kept secret in America and I have to agree. But 5 years ago I was every bit as ignorant and now you couldn’t pay me to vote for Romney and our family is proud to admit we are Distributists. Change of hearts IS happening. I see it and I am encouraged by it. Its slow but it’s there.

As Catholics, we find ourselves in various places within an increasingly secular world, and our job — to the best of our ability — is to transform it. If we look back at world history, this is nothing new. Each of us must look at the reality of the region in which God Almighty has landed us, asking the question, “What can I do, within my sphere of influence, to bring Christ to the world?” Well, in USA, we find ourselves in a country where 26% of the population is Catholic; however, 10% of that 26% are fallen away Catholics. So that leaves us with 16% of the population being practicing Catholics. And I don’t know about anyone on this blog, but I don’t see that affecting the election process in any great way. What you find is that if you are a conservative, then you land in a camp with those who support the death penalty, and want to take food out of baby’s mouths because their mother is on welfare. On the other hand, if you are liberal-minded, you find yourself in the same camp as Anti-Life radicals who describe the zenith of women’s rights as being able to abort a baby up until the moment of birth. So … what can a faithful Catholic do? Well, for me, I can only vote once every 2 years (plus primaries), and walk my own walk with Jesus. As for elections, well, I place my own set of ideological principles at the center of my discernment process (which are in-between liberal and conservative). Then I rank evils by degree, placing the taking of life as the highest in rank (coupled with number of yearly deaths by each type). Then I look at the candidates, and see where they stand on that particular issue. And if they are equal, then I move on to human rights, and quality of life, etc. Sadly, though, I haven’t gotten past the first question with the national candidates. Conversely, the state and local races have me moving down the list (not all hope lost just yet). And, other than involving myself directly in politics, that is all I can do on that front. As for my walk with Jesus, well, I am an RCIA Catechist who teaches weekly. Additionally, I help out at the local church where I feel I can; I try to give a reasonable sum of $ to my local church, local diocese, and to charity; I pray for my enemies; I pray for the dead; avail myself to all the sacraments on a regular basis; and practice the Church’s teachings–even those that are reviled by the secular world. For in the end, we all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account. Jesus tugs on our hearts, each in a different way, and of course we need to respond to it. BTW, I love this site, as it keeps the full spectrum of social Teachings in the forefront.